Today watches the Future

Amidst all the excitement and celebration of the new year and all the change I hope it brings I h e begun to feel more of the uncertainty and instability that is not only inherent but also somewhat unnerving.

I am not in control here. So that's what it feels like! And the one thing I've learned already? If others are feeling bombarded, blind-sided or blown away too it's best to acknowledge what of those feelings are, in fact, theirs and not yours. I'm working on that one...

Bombarded Blind-Sided Blown Away

Thin strips of Future

dangling fading

in and out of view.

Here I sit

stunned and gazing

as the Past

stares right through

and I do too.

No names for all the waving slivers

clear or fog

I reach for few

watching o'er weakness,

unclear distinctions floating past

witness to waking

subtle quaking

compensating

for blurry recognition of the strips I've cast.

My Future bands now sewn up tight

I pass through motionless

soft sheer of time

bombarded

blind-sided

blown away

by that, as named, Today

dressed in foreshadows

reflecting on light.

Poem by LyndiaP January 3, 2011

Bring on the New Year!

I'm excited for this one. I think I've said it before - 2011 is going to be a good year. I actually went so far as to say I feel I will be winning a gold medal* in the category of life with this coming year. Yes, I am that sure.

So last night's great celebration was not just for the upcoming year but also of all the things that have laid the foundation for it to happen.

to 2011 and Beyond!

Thank you friends. Thank you pit-falls.
Thank you comforts. Thank you fears.

Goooooo 2011!

oh and special thank you to Jingle for the comments, support and even snazzy E-awards! (which, I must say I am not quite sure how to navigate...)

*note: the category of life is not a competition between people and so there is really no way to award a limited number of medals. You are the only competitor and the judge and the jury. Feel free to aim for the podium this year too.

Photo by LyndiaP December 31, 2010

it's good to be OK

Today's Prompt from www.reverb10.com: Everything's OK.
What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead?

I have a fear of getting stuck. I must have experienced it enough from people in their 40s and 50s that say how they regret not doing things earlier in their lives; folks with those coveted "good jobs" who only care about the marginal bit of time they have not at said job; and my own soul-crushing experiences that this is a very real fear.

In late winter, maybe the end of February, I committed to "keeping my eyes open" for other opportunities in life. I didn't make a vow or pact or anything, just knew I had to have a change soon. By about April I stumbled across several interesting job postings, got some good tips and even applied for something! Nothing panned out.

Then through spring I was dejected and busy and forgot about a lot of it. Things were put on hold and then I re-started the hunt for an apartment. By July I had moved AND was about 80% sure I would be going on another fabulous travel adventure in early 2011. That felt like momentum, change. So the Beast of Change was placated. Temporarily.

This urge was a a sneaky & persistent one though. Even when I thought I was satisfied with my job for another 6 months and settles on my India destination by the end of summer I found myself, one day in September, reading an intreguing job description online. I knewI had to apply. So around 10:30 that morning I began writing a cover letter. I expressed my interest & enthusiasm and then proceeded to profess my, unbeknownst to me, passionate academic intrest in this very area. I stopped writing the letter. I kind of froze at the computer. "Yeah," I thought to myself, "I really DO want to study something like this."

I was dazed for a moment. I had been researching and looking-into and reflecting and (over)-analyzing this very thing for several years. I CTRL-Sed the letter and went back online to look at Masters degrees in this area. There was one school I thought had a good program and my friend had just completed a different program with high regard for the school.

I was whipped into a frenzy and began looking into details, costs, start dates and application requirements. I requested the prospectus and signed up as a prospective student. Then in a moment of uncommon spontaneity I began applying.

I was well into the second page before my brain caught up to what my body was doing and I reviewed my last check-box response and answer-in-the-box-provided. I noticed I responded in the affirmative to "are you applying to any other schools" and had the audacity/foresight to start listing the schools in places I always wanted to go without bothering to even see if the exact program was even available.

At this point I was concerned for my own sanity and seriously doubted by suitability for any/all future endevours. "Why was all if this happening in a whim?" "Do I even know what I am talking about?" and a plethora of other questions came to occupy my mind. So while my mind was busy with those the Beast of Change went ahead and searched the websites for the three schools I listed (with space for an "unknown" fourth). I turned up interesting results twice with exciting programs at each and one less inspiring but passable option at the third. It wasn't what I had in mind. I went back to my search engine of choice and tried looking up yet another option and was given an astounding "suggested" (i.e. Sponsored) search recommendation along with my intended result. "Of course! That's the fourth place I always wanted to go!!" I thanked the Go...gods of the Internet, clicked and by 2pm had fallen flat on my electronic-face on the Masters degree program in the location of my dreams! Can I get an amen? It was a miracle.

So while hovering between the decision to start applying at once (which it turns out I couldn't as applications wouldn't be open for another two months) and going back to finish my cover letter, it hit me: I won't get stuck! Everything's gonna be OK.

*note: since this time I have completed my application and await with as much optimism as possible my acceptance to this program and in anticipation have booked my trip to India (as I do not forsee a Masters student being in the financial situation to do so) and even "quit my good job" and given notice on my apartment for when the time comes.

The Beast of Change is in line at the buffet just waiting to be fed.

wonder (December 4)

Apparently waking up at 4:35 am is not good for the pace of my wit or creativity. But since the bus-ticket-guy said to be an hour early this morning... I am here waiting for the ticket desk... TO OPEN & this find myself with some time to spend doing something that doesn't put me to sleep: blog time!
In my continued efforts to catch up to the Reverb10 prompts here is he December 4 edition – Wonder.

How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

Well I am stumped here. I am not sure whether to indicate just the premiss of this blog or a post in it or one specific thing.

Maybe I will cop out and use the blog itself.

I think the challenge to phrase things in the context of "wonder" certainly leaves no room for pessimism or disinterest. It was a bit stifling for my sarcasm at first but it forced my attitude to change and it I began performing and imagining more wonder around me; a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Wander for wonder and realized you never have far to go.

that Healing Feeling

For #reverb10 today the topic is healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden or slow evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?"

With no real physical ailments to speak of in 2010, I will have to approach this from a different angle. As such I took a minute to look up the word "heal" because I've found so many times that an assumedly straightforward word is far more beautifully complex than I realize. I was not disappointed with my foray into the depths of heal.

For 2010, my healing would be of the "cleanse and purify" brand for my whole self in relation to the difficult, emotional, life-changing events of the past 15 months. This was definitely an evolution that likely still isn't complete.
So for 2011? Heal: to restore, reconcile, mend. This kind of healing is a restoration of two components of myself - the all-dominating logical, meticulous, efficient self and the eager-to-grow creative, soulful, intuitive part... good thing I've got 365 days.

Wisdom (December 10)

Wisdom – What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? From December 10th on #reverb10.

So simple and so true! The wisdom I followed was leaving days in my personal schedule ‘unplanned’ aka only having things planned two or three nights a week instead of all five. I tried, successfully, to be less busy. I opted out of things. I said 'No'... it was liberating.
Yes, this may sound obvious I know, but it was not, as they say, “how I rolled” in the past. So I hope after 12 months of a lighter schedule I will have made it into a solid habit!

Appreciate (December 14)

..still catching up... the list of stupendous Reverb 10 Prompts still inspires me to reflect and write more about 2010.
for December 14th the was prompt: Appreciate – What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

Of all the things I have to be grateful for, in 2010 I have realized how much I value a certain type of person... people who are on the same wavelength!
This does not mean agreeing or having the same interests on everything, no. However, that can be rather amusing and worth appreciating if it's for the long-term benefit of a hilarious situation. But for me it is more about people who are willing to be themselves, genuine and open but respectful of themselves and others. I have been so terribly lucky to find these people all over the place in 2010. Sometimes just out of the blue and other times like socks hidden in the back of a drawer – and when I am around these people it feels much easier to be myself, to enjoy life and to be grateful.

I was given the most insightful, simplest way to show my appreciation for these people: tell them. One of these very people made it a point, in 2009, to ask only for birthday acknowledgement was to encourage all his friends to tell the people who are important in one’s life just how much they mean to you. I called three dear people in my life (perhaps three because I am an overachiever or just love sharing good vibes). I explained this friend’s birthday wish. I thanked them for being the wonderful, loving, same-wavelength-dwelling people that they are to me.

That simple gift (more to me than anyone) became extraordinarily meaningful to me in the wake of one of these dear people suddenly passing away that same year. Thus, this expression of gratitude for the supportive, inspiring and genuine people I meet has become a regular practice in my life and I am eternally grateful for it.

11 Things to Lose (for December 11)

Again, me catching up for #reverb10...
December 11 was another great prompt I can't pass up: What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

1) Regret.
Eliminate by - doing anything I think I could 'regret' later & let it pass when it comes up instead of getting sucked in by it.
Improves life because - I will be doing things that make me happy and can be free to learn by the past instead of being obsessed with something 'wrong' about it.

2) too many shoes & coats.
Eliminate by - not buying any new and getting rid of some of both.
Improves life because - saves money, reduces baggage and limits decision-making.

3) saying "I'm busy" when asked 'how are you?'.
Eliminate by - finding and using new responses.
Improves life because - stop obsessing with doing more than I can, create opportunities to talk/listen about life instead of 'to-do lists'

4) Gin.
Eliminate by - pouring out the single bottle in my cupboard (likely just giving it away) and refusing to order it anywhere.
Improves life because - it is the only alcohol that makes me feel like I have less than 24 hours to live but I still drink it on occasions of mind-boggling incongruity to this established fact.

5) fast food Chinese or French Fries
Eliminate by - saying no to buying or eating either.
Improves life because - both, like #4, are known to make me physically ill or uncomfortable in exchange for the short moments of 'delicious-ness pleasure.'

6) Others' definitions of Success.
Eliminate by - realize my own definition, stick to it & work toward it.
Improves life because - less self judgement and (see #8)

7) Soda/Pop.
Eliminate by - not considering it a treat or having on special occassions
Improves life because - it would stop the headaches and stale sugar taste I hate and I often get afterwards. It would also be healthier.

8) Over Analysis.
Eliminate by - follow my gut instincts and let my mind settle and be quiet more often.
Improves life because - reduces stress, headaches and validate my intuition which is empowering.

9) Expensive Cosmetics.
Eliminate by - not using costly/designer makeup, lotions or soaps
Improves life because - more budget friendly, less chemicals, increase acceptance of self as is.

10) Forgetfullness of Dreams.
Eliminate by - keeping a log of dreams remembered and for making time and a mental focus to write them down.
Improves life because - source for creating and insight (two things I value).

11) Crash Diets.
Eliminate by - normally eating healthy and not being overindulgent (but when/if it happens not to regret (see #1).
Improves life because - healthier, less self judgement, more energy and a better attitude.

Friendship

So here's the December 16th prompt - How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

There were so many friends both bursting and gradually changing my perspectives this year. Transforming  confusion to opportunity with their own stories and coming out of unexpected places just when I needed them.

One of the experiences I am most struck by is more of me being a witness to the change of a friend. She grew, quite literally into a first-time mother. I really did not expect to be so impacted by it but I felt it was not only an amazing transformation of her but also a display of such Realness and Beauty that I couldn't help but be moved. I have never thought of the capacity to have a child in such an awe-inspiring and truly miraculous way but I really felt it. This is not to say I will be manifesting any such experience for myself in 2011, but to be able to observe the pregnancy progression to the tiny infant was totally inspiring. And for that I thank my dear friend; the growing hope and love that she showed resonated with me and gave me more hope and love for, as cheesy as it is, the whole world.

I'd say that was a bit of a perspective changer.

Thanks #reverb10!

Reverb Prompts 2010

I am SO excited about this! A sweet site called Reverb  is hosting this online creative challenge to reflect on the past year and manifest the next. I love the idea of people engaging in this kind of thing so am pumped to have found out about it... even though I'm starting on Day 16. Oh well- maybe I'll have to do two a day...

So if you'd like to join in - www.reverb10.com/the-prompts - it'll be wonderous!

(p.s. this may will very well slow down the In Response creative challenge... I'll manifest that for a month of next year.)

Human Doings

Here's the first quote for my In Response project. It comes from the book called "Chasing Rumi" by Roger Housden, 2002.

"People often take what they do to be the measure of who they are. If they are not doing something...they lose touch with the feeling of existence...as if the gap in action signified a gap in themselves."

Blue Wings. Constant Motion.

 In Response

This Programmed Life

This programmed life

dizzying

rushed

overwhelming

Alarms, reminders, lists make me whole.

I know I'm busy. I know I'm fine.

When I know I'm busy, I know I'm fine.

The threat is Nothing.

Schedules can't afford to slip

the threat is near.

Endless power of Nothing

that looks in a mirror

sees itself

reflects me.

my fear is the familiarity

of the stagnant

stationary

face:

Me

with Nothing

is nothing.

I push from this lull

to something

too many somethings

until Nothing can't hold

even as a memory

not me.

More tasks and work

ideas, things, words

to keep myself full

with Nothing

never a possibility

So I am always something

powerless with somethings.

Surface glances at mirrors

hiding Nothing behind them.

My reflection fleeting

my image always doing

something

I can relate to.

Always relate to.

Until the somethings

all reflect

me

No place
for fear

or Nothing or

me.

Doing. Doing

until I am free.

No room for Nothing

No room for Me.

photography and poem by LyndiaP December 7, 2010
(submitted to Jingle Poetry's Poetry Potluck - Week 13)

flow-ers

untitled

Yanking flowers at pre-cut stems
watching them handed
to The Girl.

tokens
confessions
valued for their remorse

unsecret mystery waits
on the surface
to bloom
buds of guilt
petals as gifts
artificially scented
artificially explaining
in purified water
bathed to be sacred
welcomed by childish smiles.

Confessions begin.
Nothing can be done
healed
and nothing is broken.

Daises and daffodils
reminding the do-er
soothing the damned
with unequal unison.
Courting heartbreak
to mate
in temples of forgiveness.

LyndiaP November 29, 2010 (PoemADay 29 of 30)

Apology Day

Apology Holiday

reading my notebook
of days one to three-twelve.
Stainless steel arguments
in one column
Tarnished by the silence of
your point of view.

This record was partial
with fault all my own
for seeing the narrow
inside
solo-track of goodbye
from only one side.
On Holidays,
track glistens
becomes double wide.
Rusty familiar distances
travelled
to fill rooms with our
glares
empty stares
fills upstairs
pollution waiting to drift down.

So save what we mean,
the mean that we say,
to sit in apology
our curse and our gift.
Blemished smoggy
record drifting
beneath our noses
Floating weight
old words erased
beyond dull memories

Lifting rust-stains
of hurt feelings
putting a twisted tale
straight.

And clear air
we can walk in
not work on,
this Apology Holiday.


LyndiaP November 26, 2010 (PoemADay 26 of 30)

Poetry Potluck 1

for my first "Poetry Potluck" with Jingle Poetry we have the theme of Emotions, Moods & Feelings" this one is something simply fun!

Plain Excitement

cheering, joy indeed:
"Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!"
"I've got it!"
and
"I'm going!"
Thoughts at sonic speed:
"preparations in a suitcase
inspirations in a new way"
Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Excitement ever plain
Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!
here I go again...
this time not quite the same
Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!
this excitement is 'plane.'

LyndiaP November 15, 2010 (PoemADay Challenge 15 of 30 & Poetry Potluck submission)

Mundane-a-holic

Self-proclaiming from the mountains: "I am a Mundane-a-holic!" and so are many others... but only when we get to let our imagination and sense of wonder venture ahead to make all necessary translations.

My top-nine celebrations of the mundane include (in no particular order)

- small-town obsessions with having a sculpture of the "world's largest" something or other (examples in the province of Alberta check this out, but a personal favourite of mine is the Dragonfly in Wabamun)

- people who are excited and creative in their 'should-be-benign' business emails

- an Umbrella Cover Museum on Peaks Island Maine, USA

- optimism in current events (YES! and Ode Magazines)

- chicken noodle soup made from powdered chicken stock & any recipe you know by heart or would never tire of eating

- the Pop Art movement

- good ideas (such as most of TED)

-things I learnt from the book "The Art of Pilgramage" by Phil Cousineau (his wikipedia entry) which made me realized ALL of life is just travel

- and Sharing!! We should really all do more of it (i.e. Shareable Magazine)


Sometimes I forget these are a few of my favourite... well... things - that inspired me to focus on being a life-tourist.

Holidays in Canada

It never ceases to amaze me the awesome power of the statutory holiday. The thought hadn't occurred to me until a young woman coming to do a University exchange from England asked me on the Greyhound bus we were sharing, "Is it true Canada has a lot of bank holidays?" I laughed when I realized it was, telling her there is one in every month but June* (but that some months have two)! That left her wide-eyed and impressed and me proud that we under the maple leaf flag knew how to pump up our calendars.

(*note: I do realize that depending of the whims of Easter one of April or March is stat-holiday free, but the fact of there being both a Monday AND a Friday balances it out in my mind.)

I can remember in high school with my minimum wage job crossing my fingers in anticipation of the holiday-week's schedule dreaming of the huge cash in with overtime pay. On the other hand, I also remember - more recently and more delightfully - of being able to concoct all kinds of wonderful travel adventures only taking a fraction of the actual allocated holiday-days off. (Who knows what I was saving them for this time!)
Statutor-ically celebrating with jovial jaunts to the province next door, or complicated cheap connecting flights to explore slightly foreign places. Nonetheless, with the proliferation of inherent holidays in my home country I am not only imbued with national pride but I am kicking my feet up FULL of gratitude on this Thanksgiving day-off.

Houseplant Dance

I think everyone should have a houseplant. If you say you can't take care of them or they always die...that's no excuse. Start with something easy... a hearty fern or a cactus.

Not only are these little plants a bit of spring in December and a low-budget way to commune with nature but they also provide numerous other benefits:

A) they give you practice should you be considering your first pet. Weekly waterings get overwhelming? Fail. No puppy for you!

B) they purify the air...kinda... unless you've got a veritable forest of violets, mini palms and lilies one person will probably produce more C02 than that one leafy purifier can filter... BUT you are going to feel great when you breath deeply near its recently-watered soil!

C) a friendly reminder of just how habitable your home is. Consider... if you don't have good enough tap water quality, regular amounts of sunlight and a tidy counter top somewhere... should ANYTHING really have to live like that?

D) built in audience of unwavering, unconditional solidarity. You'll never eat alone again, never dance in the living room without a crowd and can practices speeches or positive affirmations any time of the night or day.

And in a note of my own personal victory - something for all new plant-owners to look forward to: one day the droopy one will perk up, the stagnant one will double in size and the bland one you never liked will bloom in the most beautiful way...and it'll be all because of your careful attention & very limited effort.
So excuse me while I go do the Houseplant Dance.

Create-A-Fear

I have just realized how easy it is to create fear...but how equally easy it CAN be to create yourself OUT of fear too. Some may call this an all-to-wordy paraphrase of "fake it 'till you make it" but I think I'm trying to say something a bit different.

Sometimes when you are self-effacing something (i.e. jargon-filled way of describing the "fake-it" scenario) you are merely (or astoundingly) managing to forget the fear or push it into the subconscious. I'm not a psychoanalysis expert but I don't see how self-effacing can be a good long term plan.

An example before I continue, so you are getting ready for a big job interview and feel nervous. You really can't prove your calm self confidence when you are so eye-twitchingly nervous - the two are rather contradictory. Fake-it-'till-you-you-make-it (self-effacing) would have you repeating confident phrases to yourself in the mirror or simply putting it out of your mind until the situation is over. Then you have your stellar un-nervous interview and try not to wonder to where all that negative nervous energy went. If you are truly successful at self-effacing you should never even consciously think about that interview-nervousness again. But that feels rather short term an likely to explode one day...
so I say Create-A-Fear... or rather create your way out of the fear - you invented it in the first place!

I think there are many thing to create that can eliminate fear but it depends on the situation. (*note: I'm not saying you should 'create' your way out of a healthy fear of, say, going swimming in an electrical storm. I only mean non-bodily harming fears...)

Identifying my own fear to be sharing my crazy ideas, I decided to create an ongoing opportunity when I could express some of them: Open mic nights. Then I created a format that felt genuine and fun and armed myself with these crazy idea poems. I have already (in four months) gone from a shaky hand signing up to read to the name being down before I knew I had anything to say.

So where am I going with this you say? Ha, I dunno... but it sure was a wonderful feeling today when I realized I was no longer afraid.

TGI*gasp* Friday! The Thirteenth!

I have to say it. I have to! Friday the 13th is wonderful!

I will spare you the tirade into the roots of the superstition (being predominantly that of lunar cycles and goddess worship that became "passé" -understatement of the year- with the advent of monotheism. But feel free to read up on it here  for starters. There are also more 'academic' sources if you are so inclined, just ask...me or Google.)

However, my reason for thinking Friday the 13th is wonderful is beyond that. It is even more than the fact that it is FRIDAY the 13th (that's *Friday* people!). THIS day unlike all others is a fantastic was to become positively self-aware. And it's easy! Because you'll likely be doing it already (i.e. worrying about mirrors that shatter when you sneeze in their general direction, black felines that may have possibly ever touched the same pavement as you are about to step on and evil spells bound to conjure up simeltaneously an epic bought of -now no longer pandemic- Swine Flu-and cause you to lose your job in an instant.)

You will be totally aware of all these thing and reflecting on all kinds of other 'hidden meanings' and the like. So turn this awareness to some good use today! Just make it a bit more focused: look for beauty instead of mirrors, words of gratitude instead of those that harm and love instead of cats (fine! That last one's subjective...maybe I'm more of a dog person, but you're picking up what I'm putting down.)

Celebrate your everyday today! Start a movement... Happy Friday the thirteenth!

Urban Hiking

Okay it’s official! No one knows the difference between walking and hiking. I attended a workshop yesterday from two long-experienced hikers from a local mounteering club and it became clear that there was no distinctive, solid delineation between hiking and walking.

Don’t even bother looking on the Internet or in a Dictionary (you know, the big book that doesn’t have phone numbers it in). If you find something that looks authoritative, you’re wrong. If you have a gut feeling you know the difference… you don’t. Don’t worry, I can already tell. At BEST you are going to give your subjective personal interpretation and likely try and pull in something scientific like physical exertion rates or the gradients of the trail or path. You might think that walking is less strenuous but I have learned otherwise. Consider, this sage-like wisdom: you are only as fast as the slowest hiker. Of course, this is based on a essential arguments that you a) want to have a slowest hiker in your group and b) you want to wait for them and keep them in your group. I think the only answer to this is that, yes, OF COURSE you want a ‘slowest hiker’ in your party! It’s the only way the famished wild cat or black bear will spare you on account of YOU not being the slowest hiker of the bunch. But I digress.

Back to your feeble attempts to figure out the difference between hiking and walking. At best, all of your authoritative references are really only attempts. Yes, even for those of you with a great the up-the-side-of-a-mountain anecdote or trails with the word “hiking” in it examples. I am about to blow that all out of the water with two words: urban hiking. This is most certainly a taste of wonderful. Definitely. The premises here is that you can have all the joy and escapism of hiking with none of the costs or hassle. We all live somewhere and have to go somewhere else: so try Urban Hiking to get there. No it’s not the same as that low-culture, un-glamourous walking! I would never suggest that. This is Urban Hiking. You can discover and experience and marvel… at things you THOUGHT you saw everyday but have never really observed.

 unofficial Urban Hiking mecca: NYC

It bends your mind just a little bit and pushes you on into realms of wonderful when you move at a human pace and do so with the goal of noticing. It seems to me that if I negate everything I said up until this sentence about the non-existent definitions of walking and hiking that there is significant difference in the essence of the two activities. It is precisely our frame of mind while we are participating or anticipating them. Both walking and hiking let you move at this wonderful human-pace but only hiking instantly initiates (to the point of demanding) a heightened sense of observation and opportunities for marvelling.

Consider the last time you went on a “hike” and didn’t notice anything about the bends in the trail, how the tree roots intersected the path and whether or not there was a patch of mud or a creek blocking the path? Now try to remember the way the sidewalk looks or if there are benches or flowers between your home, say, and the grocery store. I’m not saying you can’t but there is most definitely a lack of detail or excitement, is there not? And if it’s not your walk from the market then maybe it’s some other trail. Think of all the stupid boring walks that could become treks on an average weekday! Don’t feel that you have to live in a metropolis to try Urban Hiking. You could also do Rural Hiking, Suburban Hiking or even Foreign Hiking like I alluded to earlier (for example the photo of Hikers below was taken while I was on Foreign Hike in Budapest, Hungary).

If there were rules about Urban Hiking I think there would be only two and it would be essential to follow both: 1) Observe your moments of awe and 2) No treadmills allowed. And a suggestion (but not a rule) on the pragmatic end of things (in light having both a chiropractor and massage therapist): consider your footwear options before and a light stretching routine after your Urban Hiking adventure.

Beyond that, it’s all fair game. Urban Hiking wouldn’t even need to be outdoors but I highly recommend it. Hike in your office from the board to staff meeting. Try or places in your neighbourhood, school or (dare I say it) shopping mall but do it with the same open and expectant mind that you would if you had just discovered a beautiful forest clearing in which to pitch your tent or have flown yourself to one of the Wonders of the World at great expense as if that currency was buying you wonder.